This invention relates to eye protectors and it relates more especially to eye protectors of the kind in which an eyelid may be held closed by a releasable means.
Such eye protectors are disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,539, and comprise first and second elements for attachment respectively to an upper eye lid and to a part of the cheek beneath the eye. The two elements are capable of repeated attachment to, and detachment from, one another, and they are arranged so that the eye can be held comfortably in a closed position when the two elements are attached to one another, but can temporarily be allowed to open, for example to permit treatment to be administered, by detaching the two elements from one another.
The respective attachment of the two elements to the eye lid and to the cheek is effected by hypoallergenic adhesive, and the releasable attachment between the two elements may be effected by means such as a cooperative stud and tab, or by the provision, on facing surfaces of the two elements intended in use to overlap, of a material configured to comprise large numbers of hooks and eyes, such as that sold under the Trade Mark VELCRO. In practice, and in commerce, it has been preferred to use the latter technique but in any event it is arranged that the two elements, once having been detached to allow opening of the eye, can be reattached in substantially the same relative disposition as they adopted when the eye was originally closed.
These protectors have found market acceptance, but exhibit a problem in that, when detaching the two elements from one another, it is possible for the lower element to become detached from the cheek by the force used to separate the two elements, or at least to so weaken the lower element""s attachment to the cheek that normal eyelid movements may pull the lower element from the cheek. The principal problem caused by detachment of the lower element from the patient""s cheek is that it is difficult to re-attach the lower element in a satisfactory manner. As a result, a complete new eye protector is required. Moreover, any failure of the eye protector to hold the patient""s eye shut clearly can also be dangerous to the wearer since the eye is not properly protected. Furthermore, such failure involves wastage of materials and means that the eye area will have to be prepared again to receive the new lower element. Such preparation can involve pain, or at least discomfort, associated with the cleaning of potentially highly sensitive regions close to the patient""s eye.
It is an object of this invention to address the above problems.
According to the present invention, there is provided an eye protector comprising first and second elements intended for attachment respectively to a patient""s upper eye lid and to a region of the patient""s cheek beneath the eye, and fastener means for releasably fastening the elements together; said fastener means being configured to resist release in response to natural eye lid motion but to release more readily when manually pulled apart for detachment. Such an arrangement provides an eye protector which is less likely to fail by detachment of the second element on attempted unfastening of the first element therefrom.
Preferably, said fastener means comprises co-operatively retentive material carried by surfaces of respective components forming part at least of each of said first and second elements and intended in use to assume an overlying and contacting relationship. Such material may be of the type available under the Trade Mark VELCRO which exhibits particular advantages in its flexibility in position of attachment.
Most preferably, the first element is provided with a strip-like dependent portion extending downwardly, across the patient""s eye, and bearing said retentive means configured to overlie co-operative retentive means carried by the second element, the arrangement being such that the area of overlap between the retentive means borne by said strip-like portion and that carried by the second element is relatively small compared with the area of the second element as affixed to the patient""s cheek.
In a particularly favoured arrangement, the second element carries a strip of said retentive material, said strip extending, in use, substantially orthogonally to the said strip-like portion depending from said first element.
Conveniently, though not of course necessarily, the said element intended for attachment to the patient""s upper eye lid comprises a tab portion not provided with retentive material and intended to be manipulated to detach the two elements from one another. The provision of such a tab portion not provided with retentive material enhances the ease of unfastening the first and second elements, since the tab portion is thereby discouraged from fastening itself in an orientation in the direction of natural eye lid motion. The tab portion may be formed to have a memory for orientating itself away from the eye in use.
In other embodiments of the invention, which may be used alternatively to or in combination with the preferred embodiment described above, the retentive material carried by at least one of said overlying components conforms to a pattern which presents a relatively wide profile facing the patient""s eye and a profile of reduced width facing said tab portion. As such, the first and second elements will more readily separate when pulled apart manually from the tab portion. Said pattern may link said relatively wide profile to said profile of reduced width by means of at least one substantially linear slant or by means of at least one outline conforming to one of an exponential, logarithmic or sinusoidal form.
Conveniently, either or both of said first and second elements includes a component shaped to present a wider profile towards the patient""s eye than away therefrom.
The second element (that intended for attachment to the patient""s cheek) may conveniently be configured for attachment to an area overlapping the lower part of the eye socket of the patient. In this manner, the element intended for attachment to the patient""s cheek can be securely anchored near the lower part of the patient""s eye socket.
The retentive means provided on the second element is preferably carried only on a portion thereof. In this regard, such retentive means provided to the second element conveniently extends only to an area intended to be affixed near the lower edge of the patient""s eye socket and does not overlap the same when attached thereto in use. The second element may be provided with alignment means to facilitate its attachment to the patient""s cheek, namely it may be marked or shaped so that the fastener means provided thereto can be readily aligned with the lower edge of the eye socket. As such, the attachment of the second element to the patient""s cheek is enhanced to resist separation on detachment of the fastener means.
With such an arrangement, the tab portion on the first element tends to be orientated at least partially out of the direction of natural eye lid motion, thereby enhancing the ease of detachment of the fastener means.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an eye protector comprising first and second elements intended for attachment respectively to a patient""s upper eye lid and to a region of the patient""s cheek beneath the eye, and fastener means for releasably fastening the elements together; wherein said first element is provided with a strip-like dependent portion extending downwardly, and bearing VELCRO (trade mark) retentive means configured to overlie co-operative VELCRO (trade mark) retentive means carried by the second element, the arrangement being such that the ratio of the area of the second element as affixed to the patient""s cheek and the area of overlap between the retentive means borne by said strip-like portion and that carried by the second element is in excess of 2.5:1.